The Crimson Fairy Book
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[From Ungarischen Volksmurchen.]
The Stone-Cutter
Once upon a time there lived a stone-cutter, who went every day to
a great rock in the side of a big mountain and cut out slabs for
gravestones or for houses. He understood very well the kinds of
stones wanted for the different purposes, and as he was a careful
workman he had plenty of customers. For a long time he was quite
happy and contented, and asked for nothing better than what he
had.
Now in the mountain dwelt a spirit which now and then appeared to
men, and helped them in many ways to become rich and
prosperous. The stone-cutter, however, had never seen this spirit,
and only shook his head, with an unbelieving air, when anyone
spoke of it. But a time was coming when he learned to change his
opinion.
One day the stone-cutter carried a gravestone to the house of a rich
man, and saw there all sorts of beautiful things, of which he had
never even dreamed. Suddenly his daily work seemed to grow
harder and heavier, and he said to himself: 'Oh, if only I were a rich
man, and could sleep in a bed with silken curtains and golden
tassels, how happy I should be!'
And a voice answered him: 'Your wish is heard; a rich man you
shall be!'
At the sound of the voice the stone-cutter looked round, but could
see nobody. He thought it was all his fancy, and picked up his tools
and went home, for he did not feel inclined to do any more work
that day. But when he reached the little house where he lived, he
stood still with amazement, for instead of his wooden hut was a
stately palace filled with splendid furniture, and most splendid of all
was the bed, in every respect like the one he had envied. He was
nearly beside himself with joy, and in his new life the old one was
soon forgotten.
It was now the beginning of summer, and each day the sun blazed
more fiercely. One morning the heat was so great that the
stone-cutter could scarcely breathe, and he determined he would
stay at home till the evening. He was rather dull, for he had never
learned how to amuse himself, and was peeping through the closed
blinds to see what was going on in the street, when a little carriage
passed by, drawn by servants dressed in blue and silver. In the
carriage sat a prince, and over his head a golden umbrella was held,
to protect him from the sun's rays.
'Oh, if I were only a prince!' said the stone-cutter to himself, as the
carriage vanished round the corner. 'Oh, if I were only a prince,
and could go in such a carriage and have a golden umbrella held
over me, how happy I should be!'
And the voice of the mountain spirit answered: 'Your wish is heard;
a prince you shall be.'
And a prince he was. Before his carriage rode one company of men
and another behind it; servants dressed in scarlet and gold bore him
along, the coveted umbrella was held over his head, everything
heart could desire was his. But yet it was not enough. He looked
round still for something to wish for, and when he saw that in spite
of the water he poured on his grass the rays of the sun scorched it,
and that in spite of the umbrella held over his head each day his face
grew browner and browner, he cried in his anger: 'The sun is
mightier than I; oh, if I were only the sun!'
And the mountain spirit answered: 'Your wish is heard; the sun you
shall be.'
And the sun he was, and felt himself proud in his power. He shot
his beams above and below, on earth and in heaven; he burnt up the
grass in the fields and scorched the faces of princes as well as of
poorer folk. But in a short time he began to grow tired of his
might, for there seemed nothing left for him to do. Discontent once
more filled his soul, and when a cloud covered his face, and hid the
earth from him, he cried in his anger: 'Does the cloud hold captive
my rays, and is it mightier than I? Oh, that I were a cloud, and
mightier than any!'
And the mountain spirit answered: 'Your wish is heard; a cloud you
shall be!'
And a cloud he was, and lay between the sun and the earth. He
caught the sun's beams and held them, and to his joy the earth grew
green again and flowers blossomed. But that was not enough for
him, and for days and weeks he poured forth rain till the rivers
overflowed their banks, and the crops of rice stood in water.
Towns and villages were destroyed by the power of the rain, only
the great rock on the mountain side remained unmoved. The cloud
was amazed at the sight, and cried in wonder: 'Is the rock, then,
mightier than I? Oh, if I were only the rock!'
And the mountain spirit answered: 'Your wish is heard; the rock
you shall be!
And the rock he was, and gloried in his power. Proudly he stood,
and neither the heat of the sun nor the force of the rain could move
him. 'This is better than all!' he said to himself. But one day he
heard a strange noise at his feet, and when he looked down to see
what it could be, he saw a stone-cutter driving tools into his
surface. Even while he looked a trembling feeling ran all through
him, and a great block broke off and fell upon the ground. Then he
cried in his wrath: 'Is a mere child of earth mightier than a rock?
Oh, if I were only a man!'
And the mountain spirit answered: 'Your wish is heard. A man
once more you shall be!'
And a man he was, and in the sweat of his brow he toiled again at
his trade of stone-cutting. His bed was hard and his food scanty,
but he had learned to be satisfied with it, and did not long to be
something or somebody else. And as he never asked for things he
had not got, or desired to be greater and mightier than other
people, he was happy at last, and heard the voice of the mountain
spirit no longer.
[From Japanische Mahrchen.]
The Gold-Bearded Man
Once upon a time there lived a great king who had a wife and one
son whom he loved very much. The boy was still young when, one
day, the king said to his wife: 'I feel that the hour of my death
draws near, and I want you to promise that you will never take
another husband but will give up your life to the care of our son.'
The queen burst into tears at these words, and sobbed out that she
would never, never marry again, and that her son's welfare should
be her first thought as long as she lived. Her promise comforted
the troubled heart of the king, and a few days after he died, at peace
with himself and with the world.
But no sooner was the breath out of his body, than the queen said
to herself, 'To promise is one thing, and to keep is quite another.'
And hardly was the last spadeful of earth flung over the coffin than
she married a noble from a neighbouring country, and got him made
king instead of the young prince. Her new husband was a cruel,
wicked man, who treated his stepson very badly, and gave him
scarcely anything to eat, and only rags to wear; and he would
certainly have killed the boy but for fear of the people.
Now by the palace grounds there ran a brook, but instead of being a
water-brook it was a milk-brook, and both rich and poor flocked to
it daily and drew as much milk as they chose. The first thing the
new king did when he was seated on the throne, was to forbid
anyone to go near the brook, on pain of being seized by the
watchmen. And this was purely spite, for there was plenty of milk
for everybody.
For some days no one dared venture near the banks of the stream,
but at length some of the watchmen noticed that early in the
mornings, just at dawn, a man with a gold beard came down to the
brook with a pail, which he filled up to the brim with milk, and then
vanished like smoke before they could get near enough to see who
he was. So they went and told the king what they had seen.
At first the king would not believe their story, but as they persisted
it was quite true, he said that he would go and watch the stream
that night himself. With the earliest streaks of dawn the
gold-bearded man appeared, and filled his pail as before. Then in
an instant he had vanished, as if the earth had swallowed him up.
The king stood staring with eyes and mouth open at the place
where the man had disappeared. He had never seen him before,
that was certain; but what mattered much more was how to catch
him, and what should be done with him when he was caught? He
would have a cage built as a prison for him, and everyone would
talk of it, for in other countries thieves were put in prison, and it
was long indeed since any king had used a cage. It was all very
well to plan, and even to station a watchman behind every bush, but
it was of no use, for the man was never caught. They would creep
up to him softly on the grass, as he was stooping to fill his pail, and
just as they stretched out their hands to seize him, he vanished
before their eyes. Time after time this happened, till the king grew
mad with rage, and offered a large reward to anyone who could tell
him how to capture his enemy.
The first person that came with a scheme was an old soldier who
promised the king that if he would only put some bread and bacon
and a flask of wine on the bank of the stream, the gold-bearded man
would be sure to eat and drink, and they could shake some powder
into the wine, which would send him to sleep at once. After that
there was nothing to do but to shut him in the cage.
This idea pleased the king, and he ordered bread and bacon and a
flask of drugged wine to be placed on the bank of the stream, and
the watchers to be redoubled. Then, full of hope, he awaited the
result.
Everything turned out just as the soldier had said. Early next
morning the gold-bearded man came down to the brook, ate, drank,
and fell sound asleep, so that the watchers easily bound him, and
carried him off to the palace. In a moment the king had him fast in
the golden cage, and showed him, with ferocious joy, to the
strangers who were visiting his court. The poor captive, when he
awoke from his drunken sleep, tried to talk to them, but no one
would listen to him, so he shut himself up altogether, and the
people who came to stare took him for a dumb man of the woods.
He wept and moaned to himself all day, and would hardly touch
food, though, in dread that he should die and escape his tormentors,
the king ordered his head cook to send him dishes from the royal
table.
The gold-bearded man had been in captivity about a month, when
the king was forced to make war upon a neighbouring country, and
left the palace, to take command of his army. But before he went
he called his stepson to him and said:
'Listen, boy, to what I tell you. While I am away I trust the care of
my prisoner to you. See that he has plenty to eat and drink, but he
careful that he does not escape, or even walk about the room. If I
return and find him gone, you will pay for it by a terrible death.'
The young prince was thankful that his stepfather was going to the
war, and secretly hoped he might never come back. Directly he had
ridden off the boy went to the room where the cage was kept, and
never left it night and day. He even played his games beside it.
One day he was shooting at a mark with a silver bow; one of his
arrows fell into the golden cage.
'Please give me my arrow,' said the prince, running up to him; but
the gold-bearded man answered:
'No, I shall not give it to you unless you let me out of my cage.'
'I may not let you out,' replied the boy, 'for if I do my stepfather
says that I shall have to die a horrible death when he returns from
the war. My arrow can be of no use to you, so give it to me.'
The man handed the arrow through the bars, but when he had done
so he begged harder than ever that the prince would open the door
and set him free. Indeed, he prayed so earnestly that the prince's
heart was touched, for he was a tender-hearted boy who pitied the
sorrows of other people. So he shot back the bolt, and the
gold-bearded man stepped out into the world.
'I will repay you a thousand fold for that good deed.' said the man,
and then he vanished. The prince began to think what he should
say to the king when he came back; then he wondered whether it
would be wise to wait for his stepfather's return and run the risk of
the dreadful death which had been promised him. 'No,' he said to
himself, 'I am afraid to stay. Perhaps the world will be kinder to me
than he has been.'
Unseen he stole out when twilight fell, and for many days he
wandered over mountains and through forests and valleys without
knowing where he was going or what he should do. He had only
the berries for food, when, one morning, he saw a wood-pigeon
sitting on a bough. In an instant he had fitted an arrow to his bow,
and was taking aim at the bird, thinking what a good meal he would
make off him, when his weapon fell to the ground at the sound of
the pigeon's voice:
'Do not shoot, I implore you, noble prince! I have two little sons at
home, and they will die of hunger if I am not there to bring them
food.'
And the young prince had pity, and unstrung his bow.
'Oh, prince, I will repay your deed of mercy, said the grateful
wood-pigeon.
'Poor thing! how can you repay me?' asked the prince.
'You have forgotten,' answered the wood-pigeon, 'the proverb that
runs, "mountain and mountain can never meet, but one living
creature can always come across another."' The boy laughed at this
speech and went his way.
By-and-by he reached the edge of a lake, and flying towards some
rushes which grew near the shore he beheld a wild duck. Now, in
the days that the king, his father, was alive, and he had everything
to eat he could possibly wish for, the prince always had wild duck
for his birthday dinner, so he quickly fitted an arrow to his bow and
took a careful aim.
'Do not shoot, I pray you, noble prince!' cried the wild duck; 'I have
two little sons at home; they will die of hunger if I am not there to
bring them food.'
And the prince had pity, and let fall his arrow and unstrung his bow.
'Oh, prince! I will repay your deed of mercy,' exclaimed the grateful
wild duck.
'You poor thing! how can you repay me?' asked the prince.
'You have forgotten,' answered the wild duck, 'the proverb that
runs, "mountain and mountain can never meet, but one living
creature can always come across another."' The boy laughed at this
speech and went his way.
He had not wandered far from the shores of the lake, when he
noticed a stork standing on one leg, and again he raised his bow and
prepared to take aim.
'Do not shoot, I pray you, noble prince,' cried the stork; 'I have two
little sons at home; they will die of hunger if I am not there to bring
them food.'
Again the prince was filled with pity, and this time also he did not
shoot.
'Oh, prince, I will repay your deed of mercy,' cried the stork.
'You poor stork! how can you repay me?' asked the prince.
'You have forgotten,' answered the stork, 'the proverb that runs,
"mountain and mountain can never meet, but one living creature
can always come across another."'
The boy laughed at hearing these words again, and walked slowly
on. He had not gone far, when he fell in with two discharged
soldiers.
'Where are you going, little brother?' asked one.
'I am seeking work,' answered the prince.
'So are we,' replied the soldier. 'We can all go together.'
The boy was glad of company and they went on, and on, and on,
through seven kingdoms, without finding anything they were able
to do. At length they reached a palace, and there was the king
standing on the steps.
'You seem to be looking for something,' said he.
'It is work we want,' they all answered.
So the king told the soldiers that they might become his coachmen;
but he made the boy his companion, and gave him rooms near his
own. The soldiers were dreadfully angry when they heard this, for
of course they did not know that the boy was really a prince; and
they soon began to lay their heads together to plot his ruin.
Then they went to the king.
'Your Majesty,' they said, 'we think it our duty to tell you that your
new companion has boasted to us that if he were only your steward
he would not lose a single grain of corn out of the storehouses.
Now, if your Majesty would give orders that a sack of wheat
should be mixed with one of barley, and would send for the youth,
and command him to separate the grains one from another, in two
hours' time, you would soon see what his talk was worth.'
The king, who was weak, listened to what these wicked men had
told him, and desired the prince to have the contents of the sack
piled into two heaps by the time that he returned from his council.
'If you succeed,' he added, 'you shall be my steward, but if you fail,
I will put you to death on the spot.'
The unfortunate prince declared that he had never made any such
boast as was reported; but it was all in vain. The king did not
believe him, and turning him into an empty room, bade his servants
carry in the huge sack filled with wheat and barley, and scatter them
in a heap on the floor.
The prince hardly knew where to begin, and indeed if he had had a
thousand people to help him, and a week to do it in, he could never
have finished his task. So he flung himself on the ground in despair,
and covered his face with his hands.
While he lay thus, a wood-pigeon flew in through the window.
'Why are you weeping, noble prince?' asked the wood-pigeon.
'How can I help weeping at the task set me by the king. For he
says, if I fail to do it, I shall die a horrible death.'
'Oh, there is really nothing to cry about,' answered the wood-pigeon
soothingly. 'I am the king of the wood-pigeons, whose life you
spared when you were hungry. And now I will repay my debt, as I
promised.' So saying he flew out of the window, leaving the prince
with some hope in his heart.
In a few minutes he returned, followed by a cloud of wood-pigeons,
so dense that it seemed to fill the room. Their king showed them
what they had to do, and they set to work so hard that the grain
was sorted into two heaps long before the council was over. When
the king came back he could not believe his eyes; but search as he
might through the two heaps, he could not find any barley among
the wheat, or any wheat amongst the barley. So he praised the
prince for his industry and cleverness, and made him his steward at
once.
This made the two soldiers more envious still, and they began to
hatch another plot.
'Your Majesty,' they said to the king, one day, as he was standing
on the steps of the palace, 'that fellow has been boasting again, that
if he had the care of your treasures not so much as a gold pin
should ever be lost. Put this vain fellow to the proof, we pray you,
and throw the ring from the princess's finger into the brook, and bid
him find it. We shall soon see what his talk is worth.'
And the foolish king listened to them, and ordered the prince to be
brought before him.
'My son,' he said, 'I have heard that you have declared that if I
made you keeper of my treasures you would never lose so much as
a gold pin. Now, in order to prove the truth of your words, I am
going to throw the ring from the princess's finger into the brook,
and if you do not find it before I come back from council, you will
have to die a horrible death.'
It was no use denying that he had said anything of the kind. The
king did not believe him; in fact he paid no attention at all, and
hurried off, leaving the poor boy speechless with despair in the
corner. However, he soon remembered that though it was very
unlikely that he should find the ring in the brook, it was impossible
that he should find it by staying in the palace.
For some time the prince wandered up and down peering into the
bottom of the stream, but though the water was very clear, nothing
could he see of the ring. At length he gave it up in despair, and
throwing himself down at the foot of the tree, he wept bitterly.
'What is the matter, dear prince?' said a voice just above him, and
raising his head, he saw the wild duck.
'The king of this country declares I must die a horrible death if I
cannot find the princess's ring which he has thrown into the brook,'
answered the prince.
'Oh, you must not vex yourself about that, for I can help you,'
replied the bird. 'I am the king of the wild ducks, whose life you
spared, and now it is my turn to save yours.' Then he flew away,
and in a few minutes a great flock of wild ducks were swimming all
up and down the stream looking with all their might, and long
before the king came back from his council there it was, safe on the
grass beside the prince.
At this sight the king was yet more astonished at the cleverness of
his steward, and at once promoted him to be the keeper of his
jewels.
Now you would have thought that by this time the king would have
been satisfied with the prince, and would have left him alone; but
people's natures are very hard to change, and when the two envious
soldiers came to him with a new falsehood, he was as ready to
listen to them as before.
'Gracious Majesty,' said they, 'the youth whom you have made
keeper of your jewels has declared to us that a child shall be born in
the palace this night, which will be able to speak every language in
the world and to play every instrument of music. Is he then become
a prophet, or a magician, that he should know things which have
not yet come to pass?'
At these words the king became more angry than ever. He had
tried to learn magic himself, but somehow or other his spells would
never work, and he was furious to hear that the prince claimed a
power that he did not possess. Stammering with rage, he ordered
the youth to be brought before him, and vowed that unless this
miracle was accomplished he would have the prince dragged at a
horse's tail until he was dead.
In spite of what the soldiers had said, the boy knew no more magic
than the king did, and his task seemed more hopeless than before.
He lay weeping in the chamber which he was forbidden to leave,
when suddenly he heard a sharp tapping at the window, and,
looking up, he beheld a stork.
'What makes you so sad, prince?' asked he.
'Someone has told the king that I have prophesied that a child shall
be born this night in the palace, who can speak all the languages in
the world and play every musical instrument. I am no magician to
bring these things to pass, but he says that if it does not happen he
will have me dragged through the city at a horse's tail till I die.'
'Do not trouble yourself,' answered the stork. 'I will manage to find
such a child, for I am the king of the storks whose life you spared,
and now I can repay you for it.'
The stork flew away and soon returned carrying in his beak a baby
wrapped in swaddling clothes, and laid it down near a lute. In an
instant the baby stretched out its little hands and began to play a
tune so beautiful that even the prince forgot his sorrows as he
listened. Then he was given a flute and a zither, but he was just as
well able to draw music from them; and the prince, whose courage
was gradually rising, spoke to him in all the languages he knew.
The baby answered him in all, and no one could have told which
was his native tongue!
The next morning the king went straight to the prince's room, and
saw with his own eyes the wonders that baby could do. 'If your
magic can produce such a baby,' he said, 'you must be greater than
any wizard that ever lived, and shall have my daughter in marriage.'
And, being a king, and therefore accustomed to have everything the
moment he wanted it, he commanded the ceremony to be
performed without delay, and a splendid feast to be made for the
bride and bridegroom. When it was over, he said to the prince:
'Now that you are really my son, tell me by what arts you were able
to fulfil the tasks I set you?'
'My noble father-in-law,' answered the prince, 'I am ignorant of all
spells and arts. But somehow I have always managed to escape the
death which has threatened me.' And he told the king how he had
been forced to run away from his stepfather, and how he had spared
the three birds, and had joined the two soldiers, who had from envy
done their utmost to ruin him.
The king was rejoiced in his heart that his daughter had married a
prince, and not a common man, and he chased the two soldiers
away with whips, and told them that if they ever dared to show
their faces across the borders of his kingdom, they should die the
same death he had prepared for the prince.
[From Ungarische Mahrchen]
Tritill, Litill, And The Birds
Once upon a time there lived a princess who was so beautiful and
so good that everybody loved her. Her father could hardly bear her
out of his sight, and he almost died of grief when, one day, she
disappeared, and though the whole kingdom was searched through
and through, she could not be found in any corner of it. In despair,
the king ordered a proclamation to be made that whoever could
bring her back to the palace should have her for his wife. This
made the young men start afresh on the search, but they were no
more successful than before, and returned sorrowfully to their
homes.
Now there dwelt, not far from the palace, an old man who had
three sons. The two eldest were allowed by their parents to do just
as they liked, but the youngest was always obliged to give way to
his brothers. When they were all grown up, the eldest told his
father that he was tired of leading such a quiet life, and that he
meant to go away and see the world.
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